Watching Argentina play Canada in a World Cup warm up game, there was a great counter attacking goal. What I liked was the attacker’s skill in taking on a couple of defenders once they got to the opposite end of the pitch.

I see breakaway chances in lots of youth games but it needs a good finisher to score a goal. Often young strikers will wait too long or try to kick too hard and shoot past the post.

You can watch a clip of the goal below and play this exercise which coaches your players in how to take advantage of a counter attack.

How to play it

Mark out an area 40 yards x 20 yards – you can make it smaller for younger players.

In one of the corners, mark out a 10 yards square with a small, coned goal in it.

In this soccer drill the ball is passed so the attacker can run onto it.

The attacker must take full control of the ball at this point. The defender starts his run as soon as the pass is made and his first action is to hold up the attacker. The attacker should change his pace to fool the defender.

The defender cannot tackle until they get into the marked-off zone.

Once they get into the marked-off zone, the attacker must try to lose the defender with a turn – for instance, a stop turn, then try to put the ball between the two cones.

The defender must stick close to the attacker and try to get a tackle in to win the ball.

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